Culver City: Man found dead on Expo Line tracks wasn't hit by train

CULVER CITY - A man in his 20s was found dead Sunday on an elevated section of Expo Line tracks in Culver City, but officials said the first reported fatality on the Expo Line was not caused by a train or electrocution.

"He wasn't hit by a train," said Sgt. Andrew Bedogne of the sheriff's Transit Bureau, adding the victim showed no signs of trauma."It (the death) was of an accidental nature." "He may have fallen from the platform area, onto the tracks. It's still under investigation," added Metro spokesperson Rick Jager.

Bedogne would not say what led investigators to believe the death was accidental. He did say the body has been turned over to the Coroner's Office.

Los Angeles city firefighters were sent to Platform 2 at the Culver City Station, 8804 W. Washington Blvd., at 1:19 a.m. and declared the man dead.

Firefighters asked for trains to be stopped there. The investigation was turned over sheriff's deputies with the Transit Services Bureau, which is charge of policing Metro trains, buses and stations.

Expo trains run until about 2 a.m. on weekends.

Expo Line light-rail cars get their electricity from overhead lines, and no electrical malfunction was reported. The Culver City Station is at the end of the line, and trains routinely creep into it to stop at a barrier just before the tracks end, 40 feet above the ground.

The Culver City Station is elevated above Washington Boulevard, but the victim apparently did not fall further than the three feet from the platform to the tracks, Jager said..

"I think this is the first death," Bedogne said. "We (the Expo Line) hasn't been open that long."

Service on the Expo Line began June 20, and normal service was provided today.